A clash with Fabregas’ Como awaits as Olyroos begin road to Paris Games with Euro camp & there’s a strong A-Leagues contingent

The Olyroos will commence their preparations for Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification with a training camp this month, and Isuzu UTE A-League talent is front and centre.

Fifteen of the 24-player squad are based in the A-Leagues as Tony Vidmar and Australia’s Under-23 team gather in Europe for a training camp during the FIFA men’s international window between March 20-28, where they will meet the Switzerland U21 side and Cesc Fabregas’ Serie B outfit Como in Varese in Northern Italy.

Thomas Aquilina, Noah Botic, Cameroon Cook, Jordan Courtney-Perkins, Louis D’Arrigo, Jacob Farrell, Jake Hollman, Keegan Jelacic, Lucas Mauragis, Mark Natta, Calem Nieuwenhof, Alexandar Popovic, Callum Talbot, Kai Trewin and Nishan Velupillay will be flying the Isuzu UTE A-League flag.

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Australia, whose squad also boats Stuttgart’s Alou Kuol, emerging Huddersfield United goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic and former Sydney FC star Patrick Yazbek, are preparing for September’s AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers. Should they qualify for the Qatar tournament in early 2024, it will double as qualifying for Paris 2024.

Bilokapic has been starting for relegation-threatened Huddersfield, who are fighting to avoid the drop from the EFL Championship under Neil Warnock.

Then there is Jordan Harrison, the Watford youth player who was born in Saudi Arabia before moving to Brisbane. After moving to the United Kingdom at the age of nine, he has gone on to play for Manchester City and Chelsea’s youth teams before switching to Watford.

Another new face is CSKA Sofia’s Brisbane-born goalkeeper Iliya Shalamanov-Trenkov. The 20-year-old, whose father worked for the Brisbane Broncos, has called the Bulgarian giants home since linking up with their academy in 2014. After spending time on loan with Litex Lovech last season, he is back at CSKA’s II team.

“We have selected an exciting squad of 24-players for this camp in Italy, which is reward for their strong performances in the A-League Men’s competition and their respective club sides overseas,” said Vidmar.

“As a squad, we only have a small window of time to prepare for our AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, with this camp being one of only two we will have prior to September.

“So, this time at the Australian Institute of Sport European Training Centre will be an important opportunity for the players we’ve not seen for some time to impress the coaching staff for future selection.”

The Olyroos will also link up in June for the 2023 Maurice Revello Tournament in France, where 12 U23 national teams from five confederations will go head-to-head.

Vidmar added: “Holding this camp in Europe has provided us with the opportunity to organise two matches against top-level competition, which we need when you consider it’s almost nine months since the Olyroos last played together.

“Being able to give all players the chance to test themselves against quality teams is important leading into the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in September and the AFC U-23 Asian Cup early next year, which double as Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifiers.”